Prologue Outline I. Psychologys roots A. Prescientific Psychology 1. Roots in philosophy and biology 2.

Aims to describe how we think, feel, and act 3. Socrates (469-399 B.C.) great philosopher- teacher i. One of his students=Plato ii. Viewed mind as separable from body & cont. after death iii. Knowledge is built within us 4. Aristotle=Platos student i. Founded the Lyceum ii. Had a love of data, unlike Plato & Socrates who derived principles of logic iii. Said knowledge is not preexisting, instead it grows from the experiences stored in our memories iv. Said events experienced under strong emotion are better recalled than unemotional happenings 5. Augustine (354-430 A.D.)-fascinated with human beings 6. Descartes (1595-1650)-agreed w/ Socrates & Plato about the existence of innate ideas and the minds being entirely distinct from the body & able to survive death i. Concluded that the fluid in the brains cavities contained animal spirits and these spirits flowed from the brain to nerves & then to muscles provoking movement ii. Memories formed as experiences opened to pores in the brain 7. Francis Bacon (1561-1626)-founder of modern science, foresaw research in the minds hunger to perceive patterns and for the minds ability to selectively remember events that confirm our beliefs 8. John Locke (1632-1704): argued that the mind at birth is a blank slate upon which experience writes 9. Empiricism: the view that knowledge comes from experience via the senses and science flourishes through observ. And experiments Psychological Science is Born A. Thinking about the minds structure 1. Wilhelm Wundt: established the 1st psychological lab 2. Structuralism: an early school of psych that used introspection to explore the elemental structure of the human mind B. Thinking about the Minds functions 1. Pragmatism: tested truth by its practical consequences 2. William James: thought it more fruitful to consider the evolved functions of our thoughts and feelings, wrote the Principles 3. Functionalism: a school of psych that focused on how mental & behavioral processes function-how they enable the organism to adapt, survive, and flourish C. Psychological Science develops 1. Psychology: the science of observable behavior and mental processes

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2. Behavior: anything an organism does , any action we can observe and record 3. Mental processes: the internal subjective experiences we infer from behaviorsensations, perceptions, dreams, thoughts, etc Contemporary Psychology A. Psychologys Big Issues 1. Stability vs. change 2. Rationality vs. irrationality 3. Contributions of biology and experience= most persistent issue 4. Nature-nurture: do our human traits develop through experience, or do we come equipped with them? a. Nurture works on what nature endows 5. Nature Selection: the principle that those contributing to reproduction and survival will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations a. Darwin believed his theory explained not only animal structures but also animal behaviors B. Psychologys subfields 1. Basic research: builds psychologys knowledge base 2. Applied research: tackles practical problems 3. Biological psychologists: explore the link between brain and mind 4. Developmental psychologists: study the changing abilities from womb to tomb 5. Cognitive psychologists: experimenting with how we perceive, think, and solve problems 6. Industrial/organizational psychologists: study and advise on behavior in the workplace 7. Personality psychologists: investigating our persistent traits 8. Social psychologists: exploring how we view and affect one another 9. Clinical psychologists: study, asses, and treat troubled people 10. Psychiatrists: medical doctors licensed to prescribe drugs and otherwise treat physical causes of psychological disorders